Disease of the Skull Base

Diseases of the skull baseinclude a variety of pathological processes in and around the different compartments of the skull base.Skull base lesionscan be located intracranially, arising from the meninges, cranial nerves, blood vessels, pituitary gland or brain tissue, or extracranially, involving the paranasal sinuses, nasal cavity, nasopharynx, parapharyngeal space, infratemporal fossa, and temporal bone. Lesions also may be located in the orbit, arising from its contents, or at the cranio-cervical spine junction where it can involve the foramen magnum and C1 and C2 vertebrae. Lesions of the skull base may includebenign or malignant tumors, vascular processes (aneurysm, arterial venous malformation, cavernous malformation), congenital disorders (chiari malformation, basilar invagination), pain syndromes (trigeminal neuralgia) and rheumatological disorders (rheumathoid arthritis C1-C2 subluxation).